The Mike Wallace Interview

Season 1

The Mike Wallace Interview is a series of 30-minute television interviews conducted by host Mike Wallace from 1957 to 1960. Before The Mike Wallace Interview was televised nationally on prime-time in 1957, Wallace had risen to prominence a year earlier with Night-Beat, a television interview program that aired in New York City. (1957)

Where to Watch The Mike Wallace Interview • Season 1

35 Episodes

Gloria Swanson
E1
Gloria SwansonMike Wallace interviews Gloria Swanson, the former silent screen star who made a comeback in Billy Wilder's 1950 Sunset Boulevard. This broadcast was the premiere of the weekly scheduled interviews that ABC aired for 16 months.
Eldon Edwards
E2
Eldon EdwardsEldon Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, talks to Wallace about the South's attitude toward the KKK, the Klan's membership, segregation, the NAACP, communism, and J. Edgar Hoover. NOTE: This interview contains language that may be offensive to some people.
Philip Wylie
E3
Philip WylieThe novelist, satirist, and social critic Philip Wylie talks to Wallace about moms and "Momism," women and marriage, religion, intellectualism, and psychoanalysis.
Mickey Cohen
E4
Mickey CohenMike Wallace interviews Mickey Cohen (1913-76), LA mobster, who was associated with the Chicago Outfit (Al Capone's gang), Meyer Lansky, Benny "Bugsy" Siegel and helped Siegel build the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
Senator Wayne Morse
E5
Senator Wayne MorseMike Wallace hosts Wayne Morse (1900-74), Rep turned Dem senator (Or/1944-68). After this appearance, Morse ran for President in the primaries in 1960, and was one of two senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnam War) resolution in 1964.
Earl Browder
E6
Earl BrowderMike Wallace interviews Earl Browder (1891-1973), former General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934-45, and expelled from the CPUSA in 1946. Browder also was the CPUSA candidate for President of the US in 1936.
Ralph Lapp
E7
Ralph LappMike Wallace interviews Ralph Lapp (1917-2004), American physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, authored the book "Victims of the Super Bomb" (1957), and coined the term "The China Syndrome" (1971).
Mary Margaret McBride
E8
Mary Margaret McBrideMary Margaret McBride, the "First Lady of Radio," pioneered radio journalism with more than 30,000 interviews over more than 20 years. She talks to Wallace about career versus family, motherhood, religion, television, and bikini bathing suits.
David Hawkins
E9
David HawkinsMike Wallace interviews (Samuel) David Hawkins (b. 1933), who was one of 22 POW's, 21 Americans and 1 Briton, who chose to remain in China after the Korean War. (6 more POW's stayed in North Korea.) Hawkins would later grant interviews only if his location was withheld.
Charles (Commando) Kelly
E10
Charles (Commando) KellyChuck "Commando" Kelly, recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II, talks to Wallace about his financial troubles, unemployment, the Korean War, and nuclear weapons.
Steve Allen
E11
Steve AllenMike Wallace hosts Steve Allen, TV comedy-variety show host, who was also a songwriter, actor, and author among his many talents. In 1957, his Sunday night "Steve Allen Show" was locked in a head-to-head TV time-slot battle with "The Ed Sullivan Show".
Diana Barrymore
E12
Diana BarrymoreMike Wallace interviews Diana Barrymore of the legendary Barrymore stage/screen acting family. Her 1957 autobiography, "Too Much, Too Soon" told of her failed acting career, marriages, and drug and alcohol problems. Subsequently, she died of an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol in 1960.
Glenn McCarthy
E13
Glenn McCarthyMike Wallace interviews Glenn McCarthy (1907-88), Texas wildcatter, oilman, and millionaire. He built Houston's Shamrock Hotel, owned a radio station, and two banks among others, and later was Chairman of Eastern Air Lines.
Senator James Eastland
E14
Senator James EastlandMike Wallace interviews Sen. James Eastland (1904-86), D-Miss, who served in 1941, and 1943-78. A southern conservative (Dixiecrat), he championed States Rights and anti-Communism, and opposed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964.
Bob Feller
E15
Bob FellerMike Wallace hosts Bob Feller (1918-2010), Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (1962) pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, 1936-41 & 1945-56. Nicknamed "Bullet Bob", he stuck out 2,581 batters and pitched three no-hitters in his MLB career.
Dagmar
E16
DagmarMike Wallace hosts Dagmar (1921-2001), early TV personality, who first appeared on Jerry Lester's late night "Broadway Open House" as a statuesque "dumb blonde". Her spotty career spanned the years 1950-66, when she made her last TV appearance on the catty "Girl Talk".
Fred Otash
E17
Fred OtashMike Wallace quizzes Fred Otash (1922-92), the ex-LA cop turned private investigator "to the stars" and worked (indirectly) for "Confidential" magazine. He parries questions about morals, techniques, and public attitudes.
Frank Lloyd Wright
E18
Frank Lloyd WrightThis interview was recorded in two parts. Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, talks to Wallace about religion, war, mercy killing, art, critics, his mile-high skyscraper, America's youth, sex, morality, politics, nature, and death.
Eddie Arcaro
E19
Eddie ArcaroMike Wallace hosts Eddie Arcaro (1916-97), jockey, who rode two Triple Crown winners, Whiraway '41 and Citation '48. He rode from 1932-62 and won 4,779 races including the Kentucky Derby 5x's, Preakness 6x's, and Belmont 6x's.
George Jessel
E20
George JesselMike Wallace hosts George Jessel (1898-1981), comedian, "The Toastmaster General of the United States." He appeared in vaudeville, the NY stage, silent and talkie movies, radio and TV and later, was known for his celebrity eulogies.
Orval Faubus
E21
Orval FaubusMike Wallace interviews Orval Faubus (1910-94), Governor (D-Ark) from 1955-67. This 1957 "Special" was conducted at the beginning of the Little Rock Central HS desegregation crisis after he had ordered the Ark National Guard to the high school, but before Pres Eisenhower responded.
Margaret Sanger
E22
Margaret SangerMike Wallace interviews Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), who founded Planned Parenthood and coined the term "birth control". She led the campaign to overturn anti-contraception laws, disseminate birth control information and champion free speech.
Lili St. Cyr
E23
Lili St. CyrMike Wallace concludes his two-part interview with Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), arguably America's greatest architect. He offers his (opinionated) views on just about everything over the course of both programs.
General George Kenney
E24
General George KenneyMike Wallace interviews Lily St. Cyr. In 1957, she was a top-name stripteaser and famous for her "Bubblebath" and "The Flying G" (g-string) routines. She discusses her profession, attitudes of her audiences, marriage and divorce.
Malcolm Muggeridge
E25
Malcolm MuggeridgeMalcolm Muggeridge, former editor of Punch Magazine and one of England's leading intellectuals, talks to Wallace about his article in The Saturday Evening Post in which he created an international furor by criticizing Queen Elizabeth.
Carmen Basilio
E26
Carmen BasilioCarmen Basilio, middle weight boxing champion of the world, had recently won his crown after a savage fight with Sugar Ray Robinson. Basilio talks to Wallace about Robinson, whether boxing should be outlawed due to its brutality, and organized crime's influence on boxing.
Kirk Douglas
E27
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas, a film star who had recently completed two films, Paths of Glory and The Vikings, talks to Wallace about acting, fame, the charge that Hollywood films misrepresent America abroad, Nazis, Communists, and European versus American women.
Diana Dors
E28
Diana DorsDiana Dors, England's answer to Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe, talks to Wallace about England's attitude toward sex, publicity stunts, the entertainment business, and the price of fame.
Elsa Maxwell
E29
Elsa MaxwellElsa Maxwell, syndicated gossip columnist and professional party hostess, talks to Wallace about Elvis Presley, Nikita Kruschev, Jane Mansfield, alcohol, society, immorality, The Duchess of Windsor, Cleveland Amory, and Greta Garbo.
Eleanor Roosevelt
E30
Eleanor RooseveltEleanor Roosevelt, former first lady, talks to Wallace about Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Republicans, Democrats, the Soviet Union, Westbrook Pegler, her son's relationship with Dominican leader Rafael Trujillo, race, and garlic pills.
Bennett Cerf
E31
Bennett CerfBennett Cerf, president of Random House publishers and long-time panelist on the game show What's My Line, talks to Wallace about what is wrong with television, reading, and censorship.
Drew Pearson
E32
Drew PearsonDrew Pearson, syndicated columnist, talks to Wallace about Sputnik, a third world war, Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, and about being called a vicious liar by prominent politicians.
Edward Bennett Williams
E33
Edward Bennett WilliamsEdward Bennett Williams, a high-profile defense lawyer whose clients have included gambling czar Frank Costello, union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and Senator Joseph McCarthy, talks to Wallace about the United States justice system, civil liberties, the FBI, and the United States Supreme Court.
Leonard Ross
E34
Leonard RossLeonard Ross, a 12-year-old California school boy who won a total of $164,000 on the game shows The Big Surprise and The Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Challenge, talks to Wallace about the effects of quiz shows on children, school, politics, eggheads, spanking, mothers, and Santa Claus.
Alexander de Seversky
E35
Alexander de SeverskyAlexander de Seversky, Russian-born World War I flying ace who served as a consultant to the U.S. government and helped revolutionize aerial warfare in World War II, talks to Wallace about the United States military, the Soviet military, and the possibility of nuclear war.